Encouragement

---

The Sculptor’s Vision © Brenda V Northeast 18/05/08

I was reflecting one day on my journey of life and faith- both positive and negative. There have been times of deep sadness, despair, anguish, frustration, loneliness, disappointment, disillusionment, and regrets.
In the positive, there has also been moments of deep awareness of God, and the absolute wonder of Him in my life wrought through faith, hope, encouragement, mercy and supply.
I have lived with a lot of regrets and maybes of how things might have been –if only!
My reflections brought me to discover a way of seeing myself like a lump of clay, in the Sculptors hands.
Objects aren’t beautiful immediately- they need to be worked. The image of beauty begins first in the mind and heart of the Artist. The birth of the artist’s vision- begins when they start the process of bringing the image from the mind to life, to third dimensional form. Lumps of clay are transformed into objects of beauty to be admired by all.
I came to realize that the mistakes of my life, my past, and my future are like the pieces that fall onto the sculptor’s studio floor when he is sculpting his work of art.
They are not pieces of error, but are part of the process of creating this object of beauty. So what may look like a mess in our studio, are only the lessons of life we are learning from the process of our transformation.
The majority of art lovers do not necessarily see the process of art, only the finished art. And so it is with your life and mine, we all are, a work in progress, a design by the Master Artists hands, if, and as we allow it to come to completion.
We may think, “All I have done is to make wrong decisions”- it is a yes and a no- we are in a process of change-to wholeness. The shavings, the carvings or mistakes as we may see them are but the processes of our learning, to bring us hopefully, to the desired place of wholeness.
Pliable is the ability to be soft in the process of change. Stiffness or resistance is the hardness or resistance to change.
The clay must be kept damp in order for it to be worked. There is a period where the artist rests the clay or allows it to come to a place of rest with a damp cloth till the next stage of development. There is a saying, “ Stay still in the hands of the potter- sculptor”. Pliability and integrity is the ability of an object to adapt to the hands of a skilful developer to his desired design.
They say without pain, we don’t know or appreciate joy- happiness, healing. Contrasts are part of life’s learning of appreciating difference or change. We all are at different stages of our journey. We all view the same landscape but from different angles. We learn to evaluate from experience.
Sadness sharpens our emotions, our hearts sensitivity to those around us compelling us to be tender and merciful and useful. Adversity brings refinement, durability, endurance, carefulness, soberness and integrity of heart.
To uphold that which is good is to appreciate that which is beautiful, such as faith, hope, honor, love, goodness, grace, mercy, and cheerfulness.
The Sculptor is purposeful in His dealings with his chosen clay. Brokenness or soft pliable clay creates a yielded ness; Clay needs to be kept moist so it doesn’t harden between rest periods of its development into the object of the Sculptors design.


The Master Sculptor

The Master Sculptor stands before his chosen shapeless lump of clay. In His heart is a vision, an image, and a desire. The Master Craftsman chooses His tools with meticulous care
His hands work with the sensitivity of a surgeon cutting ever so Carefully into the soft clay as the shavings fall to His studio floor.
He prods, He twists, He carves, and He layers, a bit here and a bit there
A form starts to show - of no particular shape or beauty. He works relentlessly with the image burning in His Heart, still.
In between developments, He rests His clay His work of art
With moistened cloth He covers His clay to prevent it from becoming stiff and unworkable resistant to His molding.
Daily He comes to His work of love, to peruse and view. He smiles at His handiwork, His loving hands have formed
Compelled, He continues His quest, His vision to perform. His greatest handiwork, which, under his Masterful hands is being Shaped to be a work of integrity, of beauty, durability and excellence, a testimony to His skill, His vision.
Nothing is lost from His studio floor. All the fallen scraps are to be gathered and used again, by the Sculptor’s skilful hands.
© BrendaVN 19/05/08

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE